5 Surprising Facts About Golden Globe Nominee Benicio Del Toro

Benicio Del Toro has made a name for himself as one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. This year, he’s been nominated at the Golden Globe Awards, and the Puerto Rican star is hoping to win his second award. He’s up for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture for his role in One Battle After Another, where he plays Sensei, a calm, cool karate instructor and activist for undocumented immigrants.

Del Toro won his first Golden Globe in the same category for Traffic in 2001. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, January 11, at 5 PM PT. As one of the few Latino nominees, the Oscar-winning actor is definitely someone worth knowing. Here are five interesting facts about him that you might not know.

1. Casting agents suggested he quit acting

In a 2003 interview with The Mercury, Del Toro shared a story about a difficult audition experience. After reading for a guest spot on a TV show, his manager called and told him that the casting directors said he showed up drunk to the audition. "I hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol," he said. "They said, ‘He’s the worst actor we’ve ever seen!’"

"When you’re a kid, and you’re just starting out, you’re vulnerable. I joked about it at the time, but I started to have my doubts. I actually went out and got drunk. But then I thought ‘Well, it can’t get any worse than this,’ he continued."

2. His mom died when he was 9

Del Toro’s parents were attorneys, and he never had dreams of becoming an actor. His mother passed away from hepatitis when he was 9 years old. "That’s a big blow for a kid, and that was a big blow for me. In retrospect, you can see the blow; when you’re a kid, you don’t see the blow. You just react. And I reacted by going out with kids and being with the wrong crowd."

His godmother recognized his potential and moved him to a prep school in Pennsylvania. "Being there, I found myself alone, and I found myself with the potential of allowing new things to be done, exploring new things, and really take some control," he said. Although he was still a bit of a prankster, this move allowed him to make friends and explore new ideas.

3. He used his tuition money to pursue acting

After prep school, Del Toro had a new outlook and decided to take an elective acting class while studying at UCSD. Then everything changed. He discovered Stella Adler and used his tuition money to pursue a life as an actor in Los Angeles, according to The Mercury.

When his father found out, he didn’t speak to him for years until he saw him in the 1989 James Bond film, License to Kill. “My Dad wrote me a letter telling me that I was the best actor he’d ever seen,” recalled Del Toro. “Then, he called me up and said, ‘Oh, boy, you’re right. You’re going to be a movie star!’ Of course, then I didn’t work again for another year.”

4. He got stopped by TSA because of an explosive script

Del Toro was recently flying from Boston to Los Angeles with the script for Wes Anderson’s 2025 film, Phoenician Scheme, in his carry-on. The script mentioned airplanes and bombs. "For some reason, I have my computer in there, and I didn’t take it out, so the TSA people, they just said, ‘Hey, we need to check your bag,’" he said on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

"I take my scripts, and I make the headings bigger so I can get to them really quickly," Del Toro continued. "And the opening scene is: ‘Interior: Airplane. Bomb.’ The second scene is: ‘Interior: Cockpit. Eject the pilot.’ And the third scene is: ‘Crash.’"

Needless to say, some red flags. "He’s reading, and I go, ‘It’s a film script! It’s a film script!’ And he looks at me and he [holds his index finger in the air] and he closes the thing, and he walks out, and five TSA guys come over." Fortunately, one of the higher-ups likely recognized him and let him go.

5. He gained 45 pounds for his role as Dr. Gonzo

Actors who have to lose or gain weight for a role know how challenging it can be. Del Toro gained 45 pounds for his role as Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing. He did so by eating donuts daily. Something he says he will not do again, "for anything." It took about three months to lose the weight. "It’s not healthy," plus, it received bad reviews, despite becoming a cult classic.

"What I did there was just really hard work, and it just got thrown in the garbage can, in a way," he said in 2000, per TV Guide. "It got really bad reviews — unfairly so, I think. That was a little bit of a depressing time, right there."